"If you don't take chances early it's a lot to come back" - Luke Littler comes up short in quest for back to back major titles

Luke Littler could not crown his debut at the Players Championship Finals with the overall victory. 'The Nuke' played another good tournament, but just came up short in the final on Sunday night.

The 17-year-old Englishman lost 11-7 to Luke Humphries in the final of the Players Championship Finals. In the final, Littler threw an average of 100.08, while in his five previous matches he threw averages between 103.73 and 112.73. The final was largely decided in the early stages. Both Englishmen had a sloppy start, but Humphries managed to find the doubles a little easier. Of the first six legs, five were won by 'Cool Hand Luke'. Littler came back to 6-7, but still had to bow to the reigning world champion.

"It was tough - I missed a few doubles and if you don't take chances early it's a lot to come back," admitted the 17-year-old afterwards. ''Luke took full advantage, so fair play to him. I know I hit the 170 and the 164 but I didn't have enough in the end."

By reaching the final, Littler did move up to fourth place on the PDC Order of Merit, which is a remarkable achievement considering that the world ranking is a ranking over two years. Only three players earned more prize money in two years than Littler has done in 12 months.